The Worst Traffic In America? It's Not Los Angeles

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May 24, 2012

Los Angeles might seem to be the nation's capital for gridlock, but according to Inrix, a provider of traffic data and information, the City Of Angels doesn't have the worst traffic in the United States.

Inrix says that the city of Honolulu wins that dubious honor, with drivers wasting 58 hours a year on average on congested roads.

The Inrix study shows that drivers in other major cities are still spending a fair number of hours stuck in traffic, too. While Los Angeles ranked a close second to Honolulu, those in San Francisco spent almost 48 additional hours in the car because of traffic.

The news wasn't all bad, though. Inrix says overall congestion was down 30 percent in 2011 from the year before, and notes that of the 100 cities it surveyed, 70 of them logged lower rates of congestion year over year.

These cities had the worst traffic in 2011, according to Inrix, which lists the average hours wasted per driver after each city:

(1) Honolulu – 58 hours

(2) Los Angeles – 56 hours

(3) San Francisco – 48 hours

(4) New York – 57 hours

(5) Bridgeport, CT – 42 hours

(6) Washington, D.C. – 45 hours

(7) Seattle – 33 hours

(8) Austin – 30 hours

(9) Boston - 35 hours

(10) Chicago – 32.8 hours

Note: the study rankings are not strictly according to hours wasted. Instead they're indexed to the duration of traffic over peak hours, which explains why some cities with more hours logged--New York--are ranked lower than cities like San Francisco.

The study also finds that, nationally, the worst morning commute occurs on Tuesday, while the worst evening commute is on Friday.

Inrix also says some of the worst traffic corridors in the country include the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, from the 105 to Getty Center; a 16-mile stretch of the Long Island Expressway in New York; and three miles of the Penn Lincoln Parkway in Pittsburgh.